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New Study Finds That School Choice is a "Win-Win"

When it comes to education reform, there is a lot of misinformation out there. While it has been shown time and time again that school choice is a win-win situation for everyone involved, there are those who continue to argue against it. Perhaps a little empirical evidence will change some minds. Today, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice released a report which provided just that in A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice.

The report examined five topics: academic outcomes of choice participants, academic outcomes of public schools, fiscal impact on taxpayers, racial segregation in schools, and civic values and practices. The Friedman Foundation said “The empirical evidence consistently shows that choice improves academic outcomes for participants and public schools, saves taxpayer money, moves students into more integrated classrooms, and strengthens the shared civic values and practices essential to American democracy.”

The vast majority of the studies examined showed that school choice is beneficial in all five areas. Eleven of the twelve studies examined showed that choice improves academic outcomes, twenty-two of twenty-three show that choice improves academic outcomes in public schools as well. Every study examined shows that school choice has no negative financial impact on taxpayers, and that it decreases racial segregation. None of the studies showed that school choice has a negative impact on civic values and practices.

What can we learn from this intensive study on school choice?

"Despite decades of carping by skeptics, vouchers and school choice in any form are a win-win for children--whether they attend private school or remain in a public school affected by school choice," said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. "Competition works in all segments of our society, and it certainly helps children when they're permitted to attend a school that fits their needs."

With such clear evidence on the benefits of school choice, one has to wonder how long detractors will be able to keep up their fight.

School Choice is a great idea in theory - just like No Child Left Behind and the Patriot Act but they too failed. We have school choice but the problem is that the good schools in our district are filled up and only a very small percentage of parents that "choose" which public school they want their kids in actually get it.
If you are referring to public versus private schools in School Choice - you still have the same problem. There are not enough charter or private schools around to even attempt it.
So when you guys are talking about school choice - are you talking about within the district school choice or public, private, charter school choice? Either way it's a pipe dream.

In 1917 the Netherlands started a voucher program, giving a certain amount of money to each student and allowing the student/parents to choose a school, private or public. Now 75% of the schools there are private. There are rules that all schools must follow (private schools must be non-profit), but even the public schools have improved (once they discovered that they would have to compete or go out of business).

So who came up with the rule that taxes could only fund government run (into the ground) schools?
Only politics, and teachers' unions, keep us from doing the right thing by our kids.

Studies comparing public schools to non-public schools such as charter schools are inconclusive. Of course anyone could very easily find a report promoting the notion of various such non-public schools as 'winners' and that such a story would appear on a right wing site shouldn't come as a surprise. I realize that in the effort of the GOP and its financial supporters that its ideal to try and portray public services in a negative light. But suggesting that any and ALL public programs can be solved by basically doing away with them is totally misidentifying the real problems that have caused some public schools to have issues, and that would mainly be in their funding. Countless examples exist where even public funds, taxes, and budgets were basically pilfered to pay for something else. So if that be the case, how would suddenly putting everyone in non-public schools work any better? It wouldn't. Then again we all knew that anyway...

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels approved the broadest school choice legislation in America this week, expanding charter schools, instituting merit pay for teachers and restricting the abused power of collective bargaining for teachers. The Associated Press declares that Gov. Daniels’ school choice legislation makes Indiana “a showcase of conservative ideas” for other states to model.

This week, a homeless mother in Connecticut is being dragged into court and faces a possible jail sentence for sending her 6yr old son to a school that was not in her district (not that she had a district-she was homeless).

“Waiting for Superman”, an “Inconvenient Truth”The truth hurts, sometimes the truth is so “Inconvenient” and Hollywood is having none of the truth. Last night the groundbreaking, jaw dropping devastatingly sad and absolutely truthful film “Waiting for Superman”, directed by Davis Guggenheim (the liberal director of “An Inconvenient Truth”) was not nominated for an Oscar. Five gripping documentaries were nominated for the big prize; they included: Restrepo, Inside Job, Waste Land, Exit Through the Gift Shop and Gasland. All of these gripp

School choice is a movement that many can get behind. After all, where’s the downside? Your tax dollars follow your student, schools are rewarded (or punished) based on their performance, and the entire system is held accountable for its performance. Senate Bill 1, an upcoming bipartisan bill in Pennsylvania, is a step in the right direction for the great state. Nonetheless, it faces opposition, not only from the teacher’s unions and the politicians in their pocket, but also from supporters of school choice, on the grounds that the bill does not go far enough.

It is difficult to see where the objection to school choice lies. After all, isn’t it common sense that your taxes should pay for your child’s education, regardless of which school they attend? Why should failing schools be supported by your money? Consistently poor performance at a regular job results in termination. Why should the education system be any different?

The Pennsylvania legislature is currently considering a landmark step forward in education: Senate Bill 1. Senate bill 1 is a bipartisan bill that supports a voucher program for qualified low income students in failing school districts. This bill would allow students who are currently experiencing academic success in the difficult setting of a failing school an opportunity to leave that school in favor of a better one, taking their tax money with them in the form of vouchers.

Over the past ten years, enrollment in PA public schools has declined, while spending and staff have grown by leaps and bounds. According to the Commonwealth Foundation, taxpayers now spend an outrageous $14,420 per pupil each year, while at the same time student performance has stagnated. Test scores have barely changed and PA continues to rank near the bottom of the nation in combined SAT scores.

Come to the Hill for your lunch hour (and a half) tomorrow and support the Put Kids First Coalition in their fight to save the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The group has been tirelessly defending this successful government program (not an oxymoron) with rallies, demonstrations, office visits, and testimony at hearings for months since the scholarships was dealt a death blow in the Omnibus Spending bill earlier this spring.

A bunch of us here at FreedomWorks are heading to a rally for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships. It's at 1pm at the Freedom Plaza down the street. The voucher program was cut out of an omnibus spending bill earlier this spring and was blogged about here. The tragedy and irony surrounding this decision abound - President Obama said that he would make decisions about education reform based on programs that work, the D.C.

For too long the Florida Public Service Commission has maintained a stranglehold on the state’s telecommunications market. This vital sector of Florida’s economy moves much faster than government bureaucrats can keep up with, but still cumbersome regulations and oversight authority unnecessarily burden the marketplace, putting the Sunshine State at a competitive disadvantage with other states that have made regulatory reform a priority.Fortunately, legislation is currently under consideration in the Florida Legislature that will allow consumers the benefits of telecommunications reform and increased competition. HB 1465 and SB 2626 will help get government out of the way, promoting investment and encouraging innovation in the telecommunications market.TAKE ACTIONFloridians deserve the benefits of increased competition amongst telecommunications providers. By removing regulatory barriers that the Florida Public Service Commission currently has in place, HB 1465 and SB 2626 go a long way towards leveling the playing field and making the market truly competitive. Consumers will see the benefits through more choices and competitive pricing and service options.In addition, streamlining telecommunications regulations has added benefit for Florida’s economy. As companies see the state opening up the market and tearing down barriers to competition, Florida will become a more attractive option for them to invest in more jobs and infrastructure building as well.Contact your legislators and the governor TODAY! 1. Use FreedomWorks Toll-Free Hotline to the Florida Legislature – (866) 946-1928 – and ask to be connected with you legislators. If you need help identifying your state legislators click here and use the “find your legislature” feature by entering your zip code.2. Send an important message to your legislators and the governor on this issue by clicking here and urge them to support HB 1465 and SB 2626!Remind them that these bills take a de-regulatory approach and will streamline and modernize existing law to encourage economic growth and healthy competition. They will strip out unnecessary and over-burdensome regulation that will better enable the free market to work in the telecommunications industry. Especially in such turbulent economic times, Florida consumers and the economy as a whole should reap the benefits of increased competition in the form of more choices, better service, and competitive prices!